How safe is the Barcelona metro at night?

Is it safe to ride the Washington metro rail at night?

• I ride it Mon-Fri during the day, but I have never been on it at night. I'm a small girl, and I'm nervous about being in D.C. by myself at night. During the day I always feel completely safe on the metro, but I imagine that the metro stations could get a bit creepy at night, as well as walking the streets to the metro station. I just moved here and haven't really met anyone yet, so I'd be by myself, but I really want to go explore the D.C. night life.

• Answer:

  Metro is safe at night, but I'll add a couple of cautions: --Avoid stations in high-crime areas --Don't ride very late at night, at least until you get the feel for it --The areas outside of the Metro stations are actually the areas to be careful around, more than the actual Metro system, which is under camera surveillance --Use common sense--don't make yourself a target by flashing money, and try to stay with other people rather than sitting by yourself in a train car. If you feel uncomfortable, go to the station manager's post and stay there until you hear your train arrive.